Hannah (Holmes) Mollart (1840 - 1906)

Born 10 Oct 1840 in Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom

Wife of Thomas Mollart — married 25 Dec 1860 in St Peter ad Vincula, Stoke on Trent

Descendants

Died 12 Feb 1906 at age 65 in The Meir, Longton, Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Corinne Morris [send private message]

Biography

Hannah Holmes was born October 10th 1840 in Fenton, (Lane End), Longton, Staffordshire (in Stoke on Trent), the daughter of William and Mary Holmes.

By June 6th 1841, her family were living in King Street, Stoke on Trent. As well as her parents, the household contained four children - Steven (aged 10), Mary (aged 6), Charles (aged 3) and Hannah (aged 0), and also John Barker (aged 30-34), presumably a relative of Hannah's mother.

By March 30th 1851, Steven, Mary, Charles and Hannah were all living with an aunt, Sarah Janes (who was 36 and had been born in Fenton). Hannah, at the age of 10, was already working as a potter - there were a great number of mouths to feed, as the Janes had eight children of their own.

Hannah married Thomas Mollart on Christmas Day 1860 at St Peter ad Vincula church in Stoke on Trent.

By April 7th 1861, Thomas and Hannah were living at 2 Meakins Row, Fenton, Stoke on Trent. Thomas was working as a potter's presser. They had a baby William, and Thomas' twelve-year-old brother James Mollart was living with them as was John Hammersley, his nine-year-old "brother-in-law", or perhaps wife's cousin.

Thomas and Hannah were in New York State for the 1870 census - in which ages are reported as of June 1st, although the information wasn't necessarily collected then. Thomas was working as a crockery dealer, presumably putting his knowledge of English pottery from working in the manufacturing side of things to good use. He owned no real estate, but $500 worth of personal estate, perhaps the stock of crockery he was selling. The children were Elizabeth (8), Mary H (6), Harriet (3) and Hannah. Hannah, the baby, was said to be 10 months old but also said to be born in Jan, which is inconsistent with a census date of June 1st. The date on the form was July 18th, which also doesn't explain the baby's age. Harriet was born in New Jersey, the other three in New York.

By April 3rd 1881, they were back in England, and living in Weston Road Meir, Caverswall, Staffordshire. Thomas was listed as a property owner, and seven of their children were living with them - Elizabeth (aged 19), who was a dressmaker; Mary Emma (17, no occupation), Harriet (13, a scholar), John (9), Thomas (7), Sarah J (5) and Florence E (2). John had been born in Caverswall, so they must have returned from the States between 1870 and 1872. Perhaps he had sold his crockery business and bought property in England with the proceeds, and was living off income from renting it out.

By April 5th 1891, they were living in the Meir, Caverswall. Seven of their children were in the household - Harriet (aged 23), John (19), Thomas (17), Sarah J (15), Florence E (12), William (9), and Ernest (8). No occupation was listed for Thomas, Hannah or Harriet; John was working as a potter's printer, Thomas junior as a potter's presser, Sarah as a potter's gilder.

Thomas died in June 1897 in Cheadle.

By March 31st 1901, Hannah was living in Cornelius Street, Caverswall, with Sarah and Florence. Sarah was working as a potter's paintress, while no occupation was listed for Hannah or Florence.

Hannah died February 12th 1906 at The Meir, Longton.

Research Notes

John Hammersley

There are no other good matches in the 1841-1851 censuses for a Hannah Holmes born around 1840 in Stoke on Trent other than the daughter of William and Mary Holmes.

People were sometimes not exactly precise in their descriptions of relationships in the 19th century censuses, so John Hammersley may or may not have been literally a brother-in-law, but he was probably at the least something approximating to that.

There were three possible birth registrations for John Hammersleys in the area within a year of 1852. The mother's maiden names on these were Kirkham, Wells, and Ford.

No Hammersley-Ford marriage was listed on http://www.staffordshirebmd.org.uk, so either the Ford mother had married someone else previously, or she married the father before civil registration began, or the marriage was outside Staffordshire.

Ann Kirkham married Joseph Hammersley in 1847 at Tunstall Christ Church; Letitia Wells married Charles Hammersley in 1851 at Bucknall St Mary's.

Another 1861 census entry https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M748-R8D shows a nine-year-old John Hammersley, son of John and Ann, with a sister Margaret two years younger. The only match for Margaret in birth registrations gives the mother's maiden name as Smith, which unfortunately doesn't match any of the John birth registrations, so perhaps this family's children weren't registered at birth.

A James Hammersley birth registration in 1847 gives the mother's maiden name as Holmes. There was also a Richard in 1841. Richard seems to have been the son of John and Ann Hammersley (1851 census https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGL1-JW3, baptism https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL3L-YRPC, 1841 for his family https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQTH-FHK). Marriage of John Hammersley to Ann Holmes was in 1827 (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLQ8-CS7Z). In 1841, this family had an Elizabeth Holmes aged 55-59 with them. The likeliest thing would be for her to be the mother of Ann, but relationships were not specified in 1841.

Hannah's parents were a spinster and a bachelor when they married in 1831, so there are no previous marriage for either of them to complicate the puzzle further.

Richard Hammersley's mother Ann was born around 1806 in Longton. Hannah Holmes' father William was born about 1797 in Staffordshire. Could they perhaps have been brother and sister, and John Hammersley have been Hannah's first cousin, and therefore her husband's wife's cousin rather than his brother-in-law?

The evidence is confusing. There was a William Holmes christening in 1797 in Burslem - the son of William and Ann Holmes. But there was also a burial in January 1802 of a William Holmes "infant" at St John the Baptist church in Burslem (https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/5818e974e93790de6a378a57?locale=en&search_id=5c634f96f493fd0aa7275eec&ucf=false) and since "infant" in British English can mean child rather than baby (as in "infants' school"), this has been thought by previous researchers to be the same child (they have been connected on FamilySearch).

If William's age was misreported, or has been wrongly transcribed in the 1841 census, or if as sometimes happened he was baptised some years after his birth, then there was a William Holmes christened 27 Apr 1804 in the Wesleyan Methodist chapel in Burslem, the son of William and Elizabeth. And he had a sister Ann, christened in 1806 at Lane End (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NG7V-8HP), who was probably the mother of Richard Hammersley.

To summarise, if Hannah's father William Holmes was born, or at least christened, in 1804 rather than in 1797, then he was probably the brother of John Hammersley's father, making John and Hannah first cousins. It seems to me this is the likeliest explanation of John Hammersley being described as the brother-in-law of Hannah's husband. However it is far from certain; it's not even certain that John Hammersley was the brother of Richard and the son of Ann (Holmes) Hammersley.

Sources

• "England and Wales Census, 1841," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQT4-G7T : 12 December 2017), Hannah Holmes in household of William Holmes, Stoke Upon Trent, Staffordshire, England; from "1841 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.

• "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGL1-9GG : 10 November 2017), Hannah Holmes in household of Thomas Janes, Stoke Upon Trent, Staffordshire, England; citing Stoke Upon Trent, Staffordshire, England, p. 29, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.

• "England and Wales Census, 1861," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M74Z-7P8 : 11 December 2017), Hannah Mollart in household of Thomas Mollart, Stoke Upon Trent, Staffordshire, England; from "1861 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 9, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.

• 1861 https://www.freecen.org.uk/search_records/5905960ae9379091b15a71a5?search_id=5c6367ecf493fd0a8023c65f

• "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8NP-1P2 : 12 April 2016), Hannah Mollart in household of Thomas Mollart, New York, United States; citing p. 56, family 454, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,506.

• "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27V-XRPK : 13 December 2017), Hannah Mollart in household of Thomas Mollart, Caverswall, Staffordshire, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 53, Piece/Folio 2746/61, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,938.

• "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27V-XT64 : 13 December 2017), Sarah J Mollart, Caverswall, Staffordshire, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 54, Piece/Folio 2746/61, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,938.

• "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27V-XTXC : 13 December 2017), Florence E Mollart, Caverswall, Staffordshire, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 54, Piece/Folio 2746/61, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,938.

• "England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:W329-JT2 : 11 December 2017), Hannah Mollart in household of Thomas Mollart, Caverswall, Staffordshire, England; from "1891 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 12, Staffordshire county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.

• "England and Wales Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XSQN-WW4 : 8 April 2016), Hannah Mollart, Caverswall, Staffordshire, England; from "1901 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing Dilhorne subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.

• FamilySearch tree entry https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KJDP-9Z5

The civil registration index, and the England and Wales censuses, are Crown Copyright.